


He Can Rescue Himself

by beingbaz



Series: The Kiss (Kurtofsky) [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-20
Updated: 2012-03-20
Packaged: 2017-11-02 06:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/366072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beingbaz/pseuds/beingbaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt recounts The Disaster, as he's come to call it... and its unexpected aftermath.<br/>(Written during season two, immediately after The Kiss.)</p><p>Preceded by "Nobody's Hero."</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Can Rescue Himself

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended (despite the fact that some of this comes word for word from the show). No money is being made. Just done for fun.

Kurt Hummel has had some strange weeks in his life. This week was topping the charts, though.

He'd awoken on the morning of The Disaster feeling more cheery and hopeful than he had in a while. Blaine, he thought, grinning. It was so wonderful finding a friend like him! Someone smart, and seriously talented, and, best of all, not straight in the least. Blaine got it, he thought, as he showered and meticulously dressed for the day. He understood the bullying, and believed in Kurt.

He couldn't help but smile that day, most especially during the girls' mashup performance. The girls had worked pretty hard. He knew the other guys were enjoying the girls and their shiny outfits, but besides mentally shaking his head at the atrocious costumes and truly bad hair, he'd only been trying to enjoy the singing, especially Mercedes as she was rocking it. Of course, he was also assuring himself that what his group was doing was going to be so much more fantastic than this. When his phone had gone off, he'd wondered who, and his heart skipped a moment when he saw the message was from Blaine: "COURAGE."

Blaine was so wonderful. If he thought about it, he realized he could so easily fall for someone like Blaine. Maybe he'd started the tumble already, but finally finding another boy who didn't think he was a mutant was so great.

In the hall afterward, he was surrounded by the mass of mediocre students, who could never understand his brilliance, obviously. Needing a boost, he opened Blaine's message, his lips turning up as he read, absorbed, tried so hard to believe in him having more courage.

Then that Neanderthal jock Karofsky had burst his bubble with a slap and a shove. Courage, Blaine said. Well, fine, he thought, pushing himself away from the lockers with a yell, "Hey!" He hurriedly followed the bulky hockey player where he'd gone down the hall, and when he turned the corner without seeing him, he assumed Karofsky had tucked himself into the boys' locker room, expecting himself to be safe.

Kurt shoved the door open to find Karofsky at the bank of lockers, spinning the lock to get one open.

"I am talking to you!" This was it. He was standing up for himself. Karofsky had picked on him for the longest time, and he wasn't going to let him think it was okay anymore.

"The girls' locker room is next door."

The jock's insults never got any better. Always calling him a girl, a queer, Lady Face. It was kind of pathetic, really.

"What is your problem?"

This time he gave Karofsky as good as he got, and refused to back down.

"Do not push me, Hummel!"

Considering it now, was that what he'd been doing? He supposed he had been pushing Karofsky, pushing him to realize that he wasn't a scared little boy, and no matter how effeminate he seemed, he still had a spine of steel, and knew who he was.

"You going to hit me? Do it."

Karofsky was acting seriously agitated, slamming the locker door shut and staying in Kurt's space. "Don't push me!"

Kurt had refused to give an inch, pushing back into Karofsky's precious anti-gay bubble.

"Hit me, 'cause that's not going to change who I am. You can't punch the gay out of me any more than I can punch the ignoramus out of you."

"I said get out of my face!"

Should he have noticed something more was wrong? He'd thought of that since then. Should he have been able to tell what the jock was going to do? He just wanted to make his stand, to have his say, and be courageous. So he could face himself in the morning with his head held high, even if the eyes that met his were blackened with bruises.

Uncaring about the beating he was sure he'd get, he pointed at Karofsky, with everything was feeling on his face. He didn't want to take this any more, he could stand up for himself, would stand up for himself, and David Karofsky was going to understand that before he was done speaking.

"You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how very extraordinarily ordinary you are!"

Then there had been a mouth on his, heat and wet, and he reacted. What else could he do when someone was kissing him. He kissed back for a moment, shell-shocked, Karofsky's hands on either side of his head. He knew he'd never been touched like that before. The lips were hard on his, and the hands firm on him but gently holding, as though afraid Kurt would break.

A soft sound came from Karofsky's throat as he pulled back, and Kurt suddenly found himself staring into fearful and wanting eyes. The taller boy's hands were still by his jaw, and Kurt snapped back into reality when the jock went for a second kiss. Not thinking, he shoved away, his hand going to his reddened lips, his breath barely back inside him.

This was Karofsky. And his first kiss. His first real kiss, with a boy, not pretend, and it was with David Karofsky.

Another noise seemed to tear itself from the hockey player's throat, as he once again hit the lockers next to him and shoved his way out of the locker room, leaving Kurt alone with his thoughts, his red lips, and an overwhelming confusion overtaking him.

Kurt shakily stepped away from the lockers and out of the room, going to search for the phone he'd forgotten about in the hallway. Grabbing it, he sent off a text to Blaine, asking if he could call him after school, could talk to him about something important, because this was strange and a little terrifying, and he needed someone to spill to.

Ordinarily, he talked with Mercedes about... well, everything, after she'd found out he was gay. But this? This was too much, and even though he loved her, he knew she couldn't keep a secret, especially not from the rest of Glee. And, well... telling Glee was as good as telling the whole school. The word would spread like wild fire.

When he'd gotten Blaine on the phone, he paced his room as they talked, his movements tight and agitated. Eventually he flopped into the chair of his beautification station, a foot bouncing as he and Blaine spoke. Blaine explained how scared Karofsky must be, that it was sadly typical of homophobes to be secretly into guys, and it couldn't be easy. For half a second, Kurt could definitely believe that Karofsky was a jerk because he was insecure, but that didn't explain the kiss. No, not the kiss. The Disaster. They came up with a plan. During school the next day, if Karofsky showed up, Kurt was going to text Blaine, and he would come during lunch and talk to the jock. Because something needed to be done about that boy and he didn't want to do it alone.

They shared a class, and when Kurt went to take his usual seat, he saw Karofsky in his, head down, furiously scribbling on his paper. He turned away, sitting down and pulling out his cell phone to text Blaine. Then class started, and that was that.

When Blaine arrived, Kurt led him inside the school, and tried to figure out where the jock would be. He asked Finn as he passed them in the hallway, and Finn explained that Karofsky was probably coming down the back staircase near the outdoor lunch area, as his regular locker was on an upper floor and he tended to hit it before lunch to dump his stuff. Kurt led the way, and the two headed up the stairs.

"There he is," Kurt said, seeing Karofsky's in his jacket coming down the stairs.

"I got your back," Blaine said.

Then Karofsky tried to walk away, with some BS about having to go to class, even though they both knew it was lunch time.

"Kurt told me what you did."

Defiantly, Karofsky lifted his chin at Blaine's statement, saying, "Oh yeah, what's that?"

Whether he wanted to or not, Kurt knew he'd have to say it. "You kissed me."

The jock denied it, of course, and when Blaine tried to help, tried to reach out, what did Karofsky do? He shoves Blaine back, and growled, "Do not mess with me."

Kurt shoved his way between, pushing Karofsky back harshly, unwilling to let Karofsky push Blaine around in front of him.

"You have to stop this!"

He watched as the jock looked around for a moment, then breathed heavily and hustle down the stairs without a word.

And Blaine sounded so unaffected, baldly saying, "Well he's not coming out anytime soon."

Kurt sat heavily on the steps, feeling hollowed out. What had he expected from Karofsky? Really. Did he expect him to turn into a human being? Some kind of Prince Charming?

He told Blaine that the kiss had been his real first, and the two left campus so Blaine could buy him lunch. He figured it was to try and cheer him up. It's not like it was a date. Although, he thought, if Blaine wanted to ask him, he wouldn't say no.

In spite of everything that had happened, he wanted to take Blaine's word to heart. Courage, courage, courage. He wanted to see it every day, so he took letters from magazines from home and stuck them up in his locker reading COURAGE, placed them underneath a photo of Blaine, who made him feel stronger.

Suddenly felt slammed into from behind, and fell, twisting to see who had shoved him.

Karofsky. Of course.

Their eyes met and locked for a few moments, Kurt staring in disbelief. The look on the jock's face made it plain that he wasn't going to change.

Kurt sat there a moment, gathering himself, and wondered how a guy could kiss you one day and shove you into the lockers like you were trash the next. Why had Karofsky kissed him? Why had he tried to help, why had he even enlisted Blaine to try and help a Neanderthal who obviously wasn't going to change?

What would Karofsky pull next? He wondered. Maybe he should ask his dad about Dalton Academy. Maybe they could swing it, somehow. He had good grades, and Dad had his own business, so just maybe.

Kurt rose from his seat and went to dress for the boys' part of the mashup. He did his best to give his best performance, and out-do the girls. Because, come on. Their performance was clearly better, despite the lack of wind machine effects.

He left school that day, riding home with Mercedes, and called Blaine as soon as he could, telling him about getting shoved. He didn't know what to expect, what was to come, and Blaine just told him to be strong. He broached the idea of transferring to Dalton, and Blaine didn't immediately shut him down at the idea, only warned him of the cost of tuition again.

Kurt dressed for school the next morning as usual, and of course he looked fabulous. Which no doubt meant he was in line for a slushie facial. Of course, he only realized that stepping into the school with ten minutes to class and hearing mumbles that Azimio was back and he and Karofsky seemed like they were on a tear. He popped over to his locker, nabbed supplies, and slipped them into his bag.

Turning, he headed for the boy's room, and as he pushed open the door, he heard it. The hush came down the hallway, and knew they were coming. He didn't want this. Didn't want a slushie facial, or to have to think about Karofsky's kiss, or to worry that this fantastic four hundred dollar outfit was about to get ruined by some dubiously fruit flavored semi-frozen beverage.

He stepped into the bathroom, and stepped up to the sink. If he was going to get it, at least it would be where he could get cleaned up easily. He'd begun keeping a spare set of clothes in Mercedes' locker, and would just have to grab them and be late to class.

The door swung open, and all the air left his lungs. He looked at the door from the mirror and saw Karofsky step inside, his body taking up most of the frame, a familiar large plastic cup in his hand. The door swung shut behind him, and no Azimio entered at Karofsky's back, which Kurt found odd.

"Yes?" he asked, his eyes locked on the taller boy's as the hockey player took a step closer. "What do you want, Karofsky?"

Karofsky stared at him, not saying anything for a moment, and Kurt suddenly wondered if he was about to get his second boy-kiss of he week. "What?" Kurt asked again, his hands gripping tightly to the handle of his bag.

Unable to take it any more, Kurt turned, suddenly, needing to face the taller boy. "Why don't you just get it over with, Karofsky? Stop making me wait for you to toss that stuff on me."

"Do you know what my first name is?" Karofsky asked out of the blue, his eyes unreadable.

"What?"

"Do you know my first name?"

"Yes, it's David."

"Dave," the tall boy asserted.

"Fine, Dave. Dave Karofsky, who makes my life hell. Will you just get it over with?"

A moment again, of endless, waiting, and Kurt watched as Karofsky swallowed, and seemed to come to a decision. The cup in his hand jerked back and Kurt closed his eyes, flinching...

He soon realized he wasn't cold. He wasn't wet. He looked around, and saw the wall behind them dripping slushie, but he himself was warm and clean. Eyes huge, he stared at Karofsky, his mouth dropping open slightly.

Karofsky was looking at the wall behind Kurt, then caught Kurt's eyes.

"You ducked," the hockey player stated. "I missed."

In a hurried movement, Karofsky turned, gripping the bathroom door's handle, about to open it.

"Karofsky," Kurt said, pushing the word past his throat. The jock glanced back, a deer-in-the-headlights look in his eyes. Kurt swallowed past the lump in his throat, and continued, saying, "Dave, I mean. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Seriously."

With that, Kurt was alone with the mess Karofsky had created. He laughed softly to himself. Well, wasn't that the truth? The puddle growing on the floor wasn't the only mess the hockey player had created. What about the mess he'd made of Kurt's mind?

First the kiss, and then this? He was clean, he was dry, he'd called Karofsky "Dave" and the guy was nice? Or as nice as he could get? What was he supposed to do about all of this? He had figured Karofsky "liked" him, the kissing thing made that kind of obvious. But Karofsky wasn't Prince Charming, and Kurt wasn't some princess in a castle needing saving. They were just two boys who liked boys, and he had no idea where this was going to go.

Kurt checked his hair in the mirror, and headed out of the bathroom, with one quick glance back at the slush-puddle.

This was definitely the strangest week of his life, bar none.


End file.
